It is easy to forget how many of the great Christian gatherings and
movements of this century and last were led by young people. It is also
possible to forget how quickly the youth of one generation become the elders
of the next who need to make way in their turn. It is also not particularly
easy for older generations to ensure that younger people want to participate
in the visions which moved them to dedicate their lives to Christ in
particular ways in their time. The Ecumenical Movement is no exception.
David Devadas is an Indian journalist who gives here a personal reflection
on a ten-day meeting of some 500 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Youth in
Mendes, Brazil in July 1993. He notes a greater humility among those born
from 1960 to 1975 compared with the “evangelization of the world in this
generation” of a century ago. However it is not only that particular
confidence which has weakened, but also the belief that Christian nations
could bring global social and political transformation and curb injustice,
poverty and war.
Although fresh efforts were made in the 1960s, two world wars and
many other conflicts have made it a sobering century.
There is a crisis of vision here which the Ecumenical Movement well
reflects, and from which Evangelicals are not immune. Devadas was impressed
with the gathering, but sensed that its attempt to look for a “vision to
inspire the ecumenical movement into the next century” may not have been
altogether successful. The breadth of participation was a strength, but also
a difficulty.
The Orthodox felt a sense of isolation which is important. It is a
feeling has led to some sense of commonality with Evangelicals in other WCC
gatherings.
Yet bible studies were an important part of the gathering, a practice
normal in ecumenical contexts and not always evident at evangelical ones.
Other gaps are evident, perhaps reflecting Devadas’ inclinations. Evangelism
did not seem to appear, and the relevance of Jesus was in the social
implications of faith more than the call to faith itself. These may appear
predictable evangelical criticisms, but also avoidable.
Ecumenism and Youth,
by David Devadas, 98 pages, is published in the Risk Book Series by WCC
Publications, Geneva, 1995.
John Roxborogh